Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

By Our Love

1 Peter 1.13-25

In the early years of the 2nd Century A.D., Christian teacher Aristides wrote to Emperor Hadrian saying, 

Now the Christians trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God, who came down from heaven for the salvation of men. . . . They have the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself graven upon their hearts; and they observe them, looking forward to the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come. They do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor covet the things of others; they honour father and mother, and love their neighbours; they judge justly, and they never do to others what they would not wish to happen to themselves; they appeal to those who injure them, and try to win them as friends; they are eager to do good to their enemies; they are gentle and easy to be entreated; they abstain from all unlawful conversation and from all impurity; they despise not the widow, nor oppress the orphan; and he that has, gives ungrudgingly for the maintenance of him who has not. 

If they see a stranger, they take him under their roof, and rejoice over him as over a very brother; for they call themselves brethren not after the flesh but after the spirit. 

And they are ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Christ; for they observe His commands without swerving, and live holy and just lives, as the Lord God enjoined upon them.

I don’t know if you caught all of that.  It was a lot to take in.

In this letter to the Emperor, Aristides listed off most of the Ten Commandments and a bunch of other Biblical exhortations for living a Godly life day-to-day.  Aristides then told the Emperor that if he looked around him, he would be able to identify the Christians in his kingdom by their love—their behaviors that pointed to their love for God and their love for those around them.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13.35).

If someone were to write about your life right now, would it be similar to the way this 2nd Century teacher described the life of Christian?

Would your love for God and your love for others, a love that flowed out of God’s love for you, be evidence that a court could use to convict you of your Christian faith?

In this morning’s text, a text chosen for us by the Epistle section of the lectionary, the Apostle Peter writes to the Christians scattered around the Mediterranean region during the middle of the 1st Century A.D.  The Apostle Peter reminds those that have found themselves believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that their daily lives are to showcase the change that should be undeniably present in the life of a person who has been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of light.  Love for God and love for others should define the Christian’s existence.

Let’s here from this morning’s Biblical text now.

1 Peter 1:13–25 says this:

[13] Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15] but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16] since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” [17] And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, [18] knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. [20] He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you [21] who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

[22] Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, [23] since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; [24] for

“All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

[25] but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (ESV)

This week, in one of my daily devotionals, the author shared the following story and his thoughts on it’s connection to our daily lives:

Several years ago, my son-in-law asked me to teach him cabinet-making. He had never done this kind of work before, so I agreed. We immediately ran into a problem. My son-in-law was eager to learn, but he didn’t understand the value of wood. He would often make mistakes and then say, “I’m sorry.” The next day he would repeat the same mistake and make the same response. 

After a while, I realized I would have to confront him. I called him into my office and said to him, “These mistakes are costing me money. I don’t want to hear you apologize again until you’re ready to start doing things differently.” 

I noticed a change that very day. My son-in-law started paying more attention to what he was doing, and his mistakes were reduced dramatically. He understood that his mistakes were costing someone—me. He doesn’t have to say, “I’m sorry,” much anymore, and he has become a fine cabinetmaker! 

When I fail to understand the price that was paid for me, I repeatedly make poor choices. Grace is not free. The price that was paid for me is greater than my human mind can comprehend. That’s why I pay attention to what God has instructed me to do and carefully consider my choices before I jump into something. My mistakes cost me nothing, but they cost God his Son.

Have you ever experienced a moment of conviction in which the Holy Spirit said to you, “You shouldn’t be doing this!,” and you found yourself thinking, “What’s the big deal?  I can always ask God for forgiveness later, after I do it.”  

Well, if you haven’t, you must not be as much of a sinner as I am.

The author of this devotion is making the point that asking for forgiveness isn’t genuine if there is no real conviction in your heart to actually change the behavior that you are asking to be forgiven of.  Being forgiven by God, in the death of Jesus, leads you to place where you should have the daily conviction to love God by obeying His commands and love those around you as God first loved you by showing grace, mercy, and patience.

In our Biblical text this morning, the apostle Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times to save his own reputation and life and had the experience of God’s grace in later being able to tell Jesus to his face that He loved Him three times, is describing the life that flows out of Christian faith.

The Apostle Peter gives us instruction for living our life in such a way that our faith in Christ plays an active part in the things we think, the things we say, and the things we do.

In verses 13-15, you are given the charge to “prepare your mind for action.”

Why are we told that we need to prepare our mind for Godly action?   Because our minds aren’t naturally set in a mode to do Godly things.  Because of Sin, our minds are set in a mode to do selfish, self-centered, and self-preserving things.

So, as Christians, how do we prepare our minds for action?

Well, the Apostle Peter tells us to start with grace.

What does that mean?

It means that every day, you should begin your day by priming the pump of your thoughts with God’s grace toward you.  

How do we do that?

Well, upon rising, you can read a bit of Scripture and you can pray and thank God for another day while asking Him to let your thoughts, words, and actions be driven by the grace that was shown to you in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  You can ask God to let His love for you lead you to respond by loving Him, obeying His commands, and loving others as you have first been loved by Him.  In the Apostle Peter’s words, you set your mind on being holy as God is Holy.

As the text tells us, the faith filled driving factor to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ is being mindful of the need to respect God by properly fearing Him.

At our Men’s Bible Study on Thursday nights, we were studying Psalm 111 and Psalm 112.  Psalm 111.10 says:

[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever! (ESV)

This verse led us into an extended discussion on what it means to fear God.

We noted that idea of fearing God has been pushed out of much Christian theology due to a misunderstanding of the word fear in our current cultural context.

When the word fear is used, we often think about being scared of something.  However, that is not genuine meaning when applied to our relationship with God.

If we have a Biblically correct view of God, there should be some of that “scared” definition when we think about God.  We should be scared that God could punish us and crush us at any moment because of our Sin.  However, we know that God’s love for us has caused Him to take the punishment—the punishment that we fully and rightly deserve—on Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  In Jesus’ death, God willingly chose to pass over our Sin by providing the atoning blood sacrifice in His only Son Jesus Christ.

All of this history changing truth should cause us to stand in awe of God’s love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness to us.

While we are to fear God, we’re also to remember that God has already judged our sin in Jesus. Consider the cost of your redemption, and as you meditate on the truth of this gospel, you will be motivated to pursue holiness.

When we are rightly standing in faith, with an understanding of who we are—sinners in need of a Savior, and who God is—the Savior who overcomes our Sin, we are inhabited by the Holy Spirit who works in us to conform us to the image and will of God our Father.

As new creations in Christ, we are called to love God and love one another.

Should familiar? It should.

In Matthew 22, when Jesus is asked about which of God’s commands is the greatest, Jesus responds that the first and greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor.

This is the exact life plan that Apostle Peter is reminding the Christians they are expected to be living as men and women of faith.

They are to love God by obeying His commands and seeking holiness in all they do every day.

They are also to love one another in the church, as well as those in need of love and hope outside of the church.

So what do you do when you mess this whole thing up and you don’t conduct yourself with a healthy fear of God and you slip back into your old selfish and self-serving ways?

Run right to Jesus!

In 1 John 2:1, we are told the reason why we have the Bible with us today:

[1] My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (ESV)

This morning, if you are someone who makes a habit of calling on God in prayer, approach Him in the reality of who truly is. God as both loving Father and righteous judge.  God punishes Sin and condemns unbelief, but God has graciously chosen to pay the price for all of your Sin and unbelief in His own death on the cross in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  

As the Apostle Peter says in this morning’s text:

“…you were ransomed from…futile ways…with the precious blood of Christ.”

And, God did all of this in real historical time and space for “your sake.”

In the 1960s, a Catholic priest turned all of this Biblical theology into a catchy chorus that has been sung by the church ever since.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side.

We will guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride.

And, they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Go forth today loving God by obeying His commands.

And, go forth today loving each other and those around you in need.

This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

April 26, 2026

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Somebody to Love

1 JOhn 3.16-24

I want to you to put on your thinking caps as we begin this morning.

I am going to read you ten statements and I want you to tell me what these ten statements have in common.

What is the theme?

What binds this thoughts together into one cohesive unit?

Here we go:

  1. You shall have no other gods. 
  1. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
  1. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 
  1. Honor your father and your mother.
  1. You shall not murder. 
  1. You shall not commit adultery. 
  1. You shall not steal. 
  2. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
  1. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. 
  1. 10.You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Does anyone have a guess as to what the commonality is with these 10 statements, or, as you probably know them, The 10 Commandments?

Well, if you said, “love,” you are right!

Each of the 10 Commandments that God lays out for humanity, for you and for me, is centered on thinking, speaking, and acting in love.

Commandments 1-3 are about loving God.

And,  Commandments 4-10 are about loving the people around you.

These 10 Commandments are how God measures true love in the heart.

Again, how do you measure love?

Do you measure love by the cost of the gifts that you are given?

Do you measure love by the words that someone uses when they talk to you and about you?

Do you measure love by the amount of time someone spends with you?

Do you measure love by the acts of service that someone does for you?

Or, do you measure love by the physical touch that you receive from another?

Well, in the fall of 1937, Ed Keefer was a senior in the school of engineering at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Tall, slender, and bespectacled, Keefer was the president of the calculus club, the vice-president of the engineering club, and a member of the school’s exclusive all-male honor society. He also invented the Cupidoscope.

The electrical device could not have been more perfectly designed to bring campus-wide fame to its creators, Keefer and his less sociable classmate John Hawley. It promised to reveal, with scientific precision, if a couple was truly in love. As the inventors explained to a United Press reporter as news of their innovation spread, the Cupidoscope delivered on its promise “in terms called ‘amorcycles,’ the affection that the college girl has for her boyfriend.”

Built in the school’s physics laboratory, the Cupidoscope was fashioned from an old radio cabinet, a motor spark coil, and an electrical resistor. To test their bond, a man and a woman would grip electrodes on either side of the Cupidoscope and move them toward one another until the woman felt a spark—not of attraction, but of electricity. The higher her tolerance for this mild current, the more of a love signal the meter registered. A needle decorated with hearts purported to show her devotion on a scale that ranged from “No hope” to “See preacher!”

It all sounds like a slightly painful party game—but the Cupidoscope was one experiment in a serious, decades-long quest to quantify love. This undertaking garnered the attention of leading scientists across the United States and in Europe in the early years of the 20th century, and it is memorialized most prominently in the penny arcade mainstay known as the Love Tester.

In order to measure love, Mr. Keefer used electrical current.

In this morning’s Biblical text, we are going to hear more about how God measures true love in a person’s heart, mind, and soul.

In order to hear more about how God measures love that meets his standards for perfect, true, and lasting love, we are going to hear from the disciple John’s first general letter to the Christians in the first century immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Let’s hear what John has to say about life and love together.

1 John 3:16–24 says this:

[16] By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

[19] By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; [20] for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. [21] Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; [22] and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. [23] And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. [24] Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (ESV)

As we have discussed, many times over the years, love is a often presented to us in the form of a verb.

That means that love is not a noun describing a feeling.

That means that love is an action word.  To love someone or something is to do something for that person or thing.

So, how do we know when someone truly loves us?

We know that someone truly loves us when that person acts intentionally, thoughtfully, purposely for our personal good.  And, in addition, those actions that demonstrate true love are often done by the other sacrificing their own good in order to benefit us.

In our main Biblical text for this morning, we are told that we know true love based on the fact that he, meaning Jesus, laid down his own life for us.

That is of course referring to Jesus’ death on Good Friday.  Jesus willingly chose the path of his own pain, suffering, and death so that we could benefit from the forgiveness of sin and righteousness that we are given through that act of pure and true love.

In the Gospel text from the lectionary for this morning, we hear about this act of sacrifice that defines true love when Jesus tells us this:

[11] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. [17] For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:11–18, ESV)

Let’s circle back for a minute.  If God considers true and perfect love to be measurable by strict adherence to the 10 Commandments, which means always putting God and others first in our thoughts, words, and actions, have you ever compared your life to the 10 Commandments and felt like a failure?

Does hearing the 10 Commandments lead you to know that you have failed to live and love as God desires you to?

This happens because you realize that:

At times, you have chosen to love others things or people more than God.

At times, you have used God’s name in vain.  Does the term “OMG,” or, “Oh my God!,” slide way too easily off of your tongue?

At times you have chosen not to keep the Sabbath Holy by going to church.  Instead, you have willfully chosen to sleep in or attend a sporting event on a Sunday morning.

At times, 

  • you have chosen to be angry, 
  • you have chosen to gossip, 
  • you have chosen to entertain sexual thoughts about another human being, 
  • you haven’t been content with what God has given you and wished that you had the possessions or life of another.

Maybe, when you read or hear the 10 Commandments, you feel like the band Convictions, who pretty much penned a psalm comparable to King David’s psalms, as they say this in their new single,  “Sleeping Lotus,”

Stagnant, complacent

Anxiеty’s chokehold pulls me down

A tattered lily amongst the dancing waters

Iridescent beauty waiting to be found

I’ve grown restless, searching through the darkness

Longing to prove myself (And rise out of the dirt)

A glimmer of hope dampened by constant defeat

Reaching through oblivion

God set me free

I feel weightless, I’m falling under

An endless dream, eternal slumber (Slumber)

I’m lost, I’m too far gone (Too far gone)

Show me a sign so I can follow your every word (Your every word)

Lost sight of who I am

God, no one understands (Understands)

Encompassed heart, time ticks away

A weathered seedling

I wither and decay

God, water these roots and drown out the doubt

Nourish my purpose

Turn me inside out

Illuminate your design

I’ll leave the old me behind

If you are feeling the burden of your sin that has kept you and is keeping you now from loving God and loving others,, here is the good news: 

as you find yourself staring at true love measured by the 10 Commandments and exemplified in the person and work of Jesus, coming to know that you will never be able to measure up to God’s standards, Jesus graciously says this to you, in Matthew 5:17–20:

[17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [19] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

So, when Jesus says, “It is finished!,” to you from the cross, He is telling you that a perfect life has been lived according to God’s commandments, or, standards for life and love.

And, Jesus is telling you that by faith, “It is finished!,” for you!

Through faith in Him, you are completely united with Jesus and everything that He has and is, becomes 100% yours!

That means His track record of a perfectly lived life following every one of God’s commandments, perfectly loving God and perfectly loving others, becomes your track record, and, therefore, that is the life that God will measure you by when it comes time to meet Him face-to-face.

It is only through being united to Jesus through faith in Him that you will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” on the last day.

And, what is the result of being loved by such a generous, sacrificial and unconditional love?

The result of being loved by such a generous, sacrificial and unconditional love is to go out and love others with that real Jesus love with which he first loved us.

That is to say, real love changes you.

Caring and sharing is the result of real love.

Jesus cared for you and therefore shared his life, death, and resurrection with you.

He gave you his earthly life so that you have a perfect record of loving God and loving others.

He gave you his death so that your own earthly record of not perfectly loving God and not perfectly loving others can be forgiven.

And, He gave you his resurrection life so that the power that Sin and Death had on to, to continue making you love yourself more than God or others, can be broken today, tomorrow, and forever.

As we heard Jesus say a few minutes ago, the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk.

So, I encourage you, with the new life you have been given in Christ through God’s great and endless love for you, walk the walk don’t just talk the talk this week.

Go, this morning, in the freedom you have been given through faith in Christ, and speak, think, and act in ways that love God and love others unconditionally.

God, the Creator and Redeemer of all things, considers you somebody to love.

Go, and respond by considering God somebody to love and the people around you somebodies to love.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

April 21, 2024.